


A Small Price To Pay For Extra Credit

by Maybeanartist02



Category: Last Legacy (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst/Fluff, Bullying, F/M, Felix is a tutor, Highschool AU, Hurt/Comfort, Private School AU, Tutor AU, everyone is friends!!!, mentions of abuse, slowburn, theyre....friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:14:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22316146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maybeanartist02/pseuds/Maybeanartist02
Summary: Anne Nova is a dorky artist with a knack for writing and distracting herself in class. Felix Escellun is the star pupil of Mournfall Academy, though he lacks the Artistic know-how to pass his art class.Thanks to a concerned teacher, the two learn to help one another.
Relationships: Felix (Last Legacy | Fictif)/Original Female Character(s), Felix Escellun/Anne Nova (Last Legacy)
Kudos: 25





	1. The Arrangement

“a suggestion?”

Felix repeats Mrs. Riveras’ words with a quirked brow. He wasn’t really planning to be sitting in his Art teacher’s office on a Friday afternoon, especially not to talk about his plummeting grade in the subject. Funnily, it was the only class he was failing.

“Yes,” Riveras nods, “I have a very smart girl in my advanced course, but she doesn’t have the…ability to put her brains to good use in a conventional classroom.”

He quirks a brow, “What?”

Mrs. Riveras adjusts the glasses on her nose, “She needs a tutor. You’re Mournfall’s _best_ student—and not by chance. You’re a hard worker, and I think you would be best suited to accommodating her.”

Felix hums, “So…you want me to tutor her. Yes?”

Riveras nods, “of course, this isn’t without a reward for you. If you tutor her, and she manages to pass her next Linguistics exams, I’ll give you extra credit.”

At Mournfall, the grades are a numerical system, 1 being 100% correct, and a 6 being a complete failure. Anything above a 4 is ‘passed’, and knowing this…it seems like such a low bar.

“What constitutes as ‘passing’, here?” he asks.

“A four or better,” she shrugs, “she used to be better in school, but I suppose her wandering mind finally caught up to her.”

Felix hums. “Have you inquired to her about this…arrangement?”

Riveras nods, “I have. She agreed, though I wouldn’t expect too much enthusiasm.”

He huffs, “Who would in this scenario?” he rolls his eyes, resting his chin on his palm. He briefly falls silent, considering the offer. Then, he looks at his teacher.

“What’s her name?”

Mrs. Riveras smiles, “Anne Nova.”

Felix isn’t an idiot—most people know who Anne is, moreso for her infamy. She won an art competition a few years back, and left the school for a year on a world tour as a result. This didn’t seem to land a chord with anyone, as she remained the main target of campus bullies.

The only times Felix had talked with her, was in class projects, wherein she usually let him do all the talking. But, he knew that she would do the work in the end, even if it was wrong, and sloppy—she did it, which is more than Sage ever did.

“Fine,” he sighs, after a moment’s consideration, “I agree to your terms.”

Riveras smiles, “Wonderful. I’ll give her your email, if that’s alrgiht.”

“That’s fine,” he sighs, reaching for his bag, and standing up, “see you next week,” he murmurs, turning to the door.

“Yes,” Riveras hums, rearranging her folder as she speaks, “have a nice weekend.” She hears Felix grumble as he steps into the crisp autumn air outside her classroom. As the door clicks shut, she rests her cheek in her palm with a smile.

“Are you sure that was a smart move,” a voice says from beside her, and she turns to find the head of the mental health program, Kale Ixxo standing in the door connecting the art classroom to the teacher’s lounge, “Louisa?”

Louisa smirks, standing up, “they’ll be fine, they’re both smart kids. And besides, Felix is honest, and Anne appreciates forwardness. He isn’t as forward as Sage, accidentally hurting her in the process, he’s a gentle honesty.”

Kale shrugs, “if you say so, teach.”

Xxx

**To: FelixIskandar@jmail.com**

**From: annemaynova@jmail.com**

**Subject: Tutoring**

**Body:**

**Hello,**

**I’m Anne, Mrs. Riveras said she spoke to you about tutoring me. First of all, I wanted to thank you for accepting.**

**I won’t lie to you, I have no expectations for this, academically speaking. This isn’t the first time I’ve tried studying, I just always give up too soon. But I know I can do it, with a lot of effort. (And tears, probably.)**

**I have trampoline club on Mondays, Theater on Wednesday, band practice on Saturday and until 8 th period on Friday. All other days I can make time after school. I live in the Sanddune house 2 in the back of campus on the slight slope leading to the wheat fields (and the party bunker but that’s not relevant, since I don’t go to parties). We can either sit down in the community room downstairs, where the dorms are, or upstairs, in our apartment. Of course, ideally we’d find a classroom to use on Fridays, since I have two younger siblings, and students use the community lounge. **

**I realize I’ve gone on for longer than necessary, but I’ve tried writing this five times, and I can’t write any vital information in less words.**

**Thanks for helping me out!**

**Anne M. Nova**

**-**

**To: annemaynova@jmail.com**

**From: FelixIskandar@jmail.com**

**Subject: Re: Tutoring**

**Body:**

**Hello Anne,**

**I am Felix. We are classmates, so I think exchanging numbers and talking about this while at school shouldn’t be a problem. It is also no problem, on my end, as I have little to do anyway.**

**If you’re going into with no expectations, then you will be pleasantly surprised. However, I implore you not to go into this with negative ones.**

**I suggest sessions on evenings, two to three times a week. Exams are still a bit away, so I suggest twice weekly, for now. I trust Tuesdays and Thursdays will be all right? I’m going to say that from 2.30 to 3.30 will be most efficient, but we can of course go longer if that is necessary. We’ll have to see what comes of our efforts until we decide what to do for exams, but we will probably study at least three times a week.**

**I’ve attached my phone number to the email, please text me so we can converse more easily.**

**Greetings,**

**Felix I. Escellun**


	2. False Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne, Bee and Iven chat about Anne's upcoming tutor sessions. 
> 
> Anisa, Sage and Felix question Felix's ability to teach someone who is reluctant to learn.

“A Tutor?”

Iven’s question rings out between the three of them as they lounge about at Flora Thrifting, where Bee works. Anne nods.

“Yeah. Mrs. Riveras seems to think it’d help.” She sighs, sinking into her armchair, where she has slung her legs over one arm of the chair, “what a joke.”

“Do you know who it is?” Bee asks, then adds, “Oooh! Maybe this could be your Highschool Romance!” she gasps, “OH my GOD! What if it’s one of the big ten!!”

The Big Ten are the most intelligent students attending Mournfall, this much Anne knows, and they are the most Desirable students in terms of relationships. Personally, she has little opinion of them, besides her theory that they’re all aliens, whose memory was wiped as they swapped them out for human children.

They’re all effortlessly smart, and Anne thinks it’s unfair she works twice as hard (from her perspective) and doesn’t get anywhere near their level.

“Actually,” she hums, running a hand through her dark red hair, brown eyes averting, a light blush painting her cheeks, “it’s…Felix. Escellun.”

For a moment, there is silence, then, in perfect unison—

**_“FELIX ESCELLUN!?”_ **

She flinches, though not surprised by the outburst, simply the volume of it.

No, it wasn’t surprising they were shocked (bordering on jealous,) seeing as how Felix was at the top of the list of the Big Ten in terms of appearance. The heartthrob of many, he captured hearts of men and women all across the grades. Even Anne could admit he looked good—and she didn’t even experience sexual attraction!

She hated him.

If not for his good looks, or grades, then how someone so cocky could be so popular.

(Though she claimed to hate him, she was really just jealous, but Bee and Iven knew that.)

“Yeah,” Anne grimaces, “first session’s on Tuesday.”

“Are you… ** _KIDDING ME_**!?” Bee exclaims, getting all up in Anne’s face, “Tutoring?! From _Felix_ _Escellun_?!”

“Do you have any idea how much his dad pays for him to attend?!” Iven asks, crowding from the other side.

“Uh…No? How much?”

“Whole fucking lot,” Iven says, leaning away, crossing his arms, “that’s for fucking sure. He played a huge prank on Mr. Taylor last year, and he _still_ hasn’t been expelled. Or gotten detention!”

“Does that surprise you?” Anne asks, then scoffs, “all those rich kids are so spoiled. They’d never understand the kind of anxiety we ‘normal folk’ deal with.”

Bee and Iven share a concerned look as Anne leans forward to grab a book, examining the cover.

“You’re going to give him a chance though, right?” Bee asks, drawing Anne’s attention, “I mean. He’s gotta know what he’s talking about if Mrs. _Riveras_ entrusted you to him.”

Anne hums, as Iven speaks up, “He’s the most approachable of the Big Ten too.”

Anne nods, acutely aware of the fact that at the end of the previous year he placed as tenth. If you were to get help from any of them, it’d be him.

“I won’t self-sabotage,” she decides, “he gets one chance to help me. If I decide he’s useless I’ll tell Mrs. Riveras, and we’ll blow it off.”

Bee nods, “Sounds fair.”

Xx

“You? Tutor someone!?”

Sage’s laughter echoes through the lounge, and Felix rolls his eyes as Anisa glares at him. “You’re an asshole, Sage!” she pouts, then offers Felix a smile, “Felix will do fine.”

“Thank you, Annie,” Felix says, then huffs, “I’m more worried about how receptive she’ll be to my attempts…she seemed quite resigned to her grades.”

“Do you know her name?” Anisa asks. Felix nods.

“Her name’s Anne Nova. She’s in our year.”

“In our class, actually,” Sage points out, “always in the front or backrow, drawin’ in her notebooks or just staring blankly out the window.”

“You know her?” Anisa inquires. Sage shrugs.

“Not really. She’s in the Trampoline club this year, was in Archery last one. We have small talk sometimes.”

“Maybe you should tutor her, a friendly face is always easier.”

Felix scoffs, rolling his eyes, “Like he could explain his way of thinking in a way that makes sense,” then, a little offended, “are you saying I won’t be a good tutor?”

Anisa presses her lips together, “you’re not a bad teacher, per se…I’m just worried you’ll get…fed up, when she can’t do it.”

“If, my dear Annie,” he corrects, “If.”

“When’s your first session?” Sage asks.

“On Tuesday,” Felix hums, “right after lunch. We’re going to her apartment.”

“Oooh~” Sage drawls, “not even talk to her properly and already going to her place? Spicy—”

Anisa whacks him over the head with a rolled up newspaper, and he whimpers like a scolded puppy.

“Thank you, Annie,” Felix bows lightly.

“My pleasure,” Anisa grins with a cold smile.

Xxx

The sanddunes building is at the back of campus, just like Anne described. Walking from the street going through the forest, Felix comes to a clearing within the school woods where two houses stand, a few feet away—closer to him than the houses—is a shed with room for two cars. Leading up to the houses are stone staircases, and the second one—Anne’s place—has a elevated front yard, too.

When he reaches the door he opens it with ease, though grimaces at the rows of shoes in the entrance. When he fully steps into the ground floor, he sees the small communal kitchen, a hallway leading to more rooms, and a big table. Right next to him is a spiral staircase, leading to the dorm-parents’ apartment—and to his new ‘student’.

He climbs it with heavy steps, wondering what to expect.

He knocks three times, then waits a few seconds. As he moves to knock again, the door swings open, and a disheveled girl with brown eyes, brown skin dotted with patches of a paler color, and messy red hair stands before him.

“Ah--!” she gasps, straightening, “Felix, right?”

He nods, “Anne, I assume?”

She smiles, nodding, running a hand through her hair as she opens the door a little wider, “Come in. I need to get my shii—things together but you go on ahead. Living room’s right down that way,” she gestures towards the right, before disappearing to the left.

On the left, he assumes, are the bedrooms—along with two swings hanging from the ceiling. Dead ahead is their small wardrobe, and to the right a very small kitchen, and a dining room that barely accommodates their larger dining table. Through the open doorway is the huge living room, decorated with a large sofa, bookshelves, a TV, a desk, and a door leading onto the even bigger balcony. There’s stacks of playmobil stored in a corner, blocked off by white shelves.

Felix hums. It’s not what he was expecting, but it’s definitely well lived in.

He’s so focused on taking in the pictures on the walls, he runs into a pair of wooden rings hanging from the ceiling.

“Oop,” Anne says, appearing behind him, giving him a bit of a scare, “sorry, it’s a mess right now,” she laughs nervously, “it’s been busy.”

He gives her a noncommittal hum, “it’s fine. We’re here to study, not berate each other’s living habits.”

She snorts, “are you saying you have beratable living habits, Felix?”

He flushes, taken aback the verbal jab at him, before catching himself.

“Well,” he huffs, “I…don’t. Though my roommate might.”

“Roommate?” she asks, then seems to stop, realizing that it was a stupid question, and shaking her head, “Of course you have a roommate, that was stupid.”

“A little,” he shrugs, then sighs, “Yes. Sage is very messy, and I’ve found food in his bed on no less than five separate occasions.”

Her eyes widen as she leans forward, “since starting school here?”

“Since this school year,” he drawls back, watching in mild amusement at her apparent disgust. He smirks, leaning away again, “now. I believe we have some linguistics to revise?”

She hums, not really seeming too excited, but nonetheless opening her English book.

X


	3. Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People talk about Anne, and Felix talks about that.

“Felix! Felix!”

Felix perks up, eyes flying from his notebook to the two girls crowding around his desk. One of the girls has blonde hair, the other wavy pink—he knows them by name, Chiara and Sara respectively.

“We heard you were tutoring someone!” Chiara says, “Do you like helping people? Could you tutor me?” she giggles, and he has half a mind to tell her to get lost, when Sara butts in.

“Oi, oi, who is it anyway? From a lower grade? A different school?”

Felix notices Anne, in the front row, staring at him, biting her lip. When their gazes meet, she yelps, immediately turning away to mess with her books.

“She’s in our class,” he says, slipping his notebook into his bag. The girls coo.

“Ooh! Who is it? Would they have anything against me joining?”

Sara asks as he begins to walk out of the classroom, following him closely, along with Chiara. After a few feet, he stops, causing them to flounder to not run into him. He looks over his shoulder, and with a cold look and monotone voice, speaks:

“It’s Anne,” he quirks a brow, “do you know her? You should. She’s in our class, after all.”

Sara and Chiara freeze, taken aback by the statement. They share a look.

“Anne, huh?” Sara hums.

Chiara clicks her tongue, “She’s so weird. Do you remember she used to take those comics to school?”

Sara nods, “Yeah! I also hear she’s pretty stupid. She also has all those weird pins and badges on her bag,” she snickers.

“She’s pretty gloomy too,” Chiara hums. Sara nods, tapping her lip as she speaks:

“Have you ever seen her without a vest or sweater?” she laughs, “she’s probably some kind of ice queen.”

Chiara nods, “Yeah! She totally is! Remember when I first transferred, she yelled at me for talking to Iven!”

Sara laughs, “Yeah! How childish! Iven can hang out with whoever they want to.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter,” Chiara shrugs, “they aren’t that interesting anyway.”

**_“Are you two done?”_ **

The two girls flinch at the deep rumble of Felix’s voice, whipping around to look at him. They flinch away at the stern look he gives them, and though he mildly worries looking like his father—

He doesn’t seem to mind at the moment.

“Good,” he nods, “then you can kindly be on your way, and stop talking about someone you barely know.”

Then, without sparing them another glance, he stomps off, blood boiling as he steers towards the chemistry lab. Behind him, standing in the dust, stand Chaira and Sara, dumbfounded.

“What the fuck?” Chiara asks, crossing her arms, “since when’s he such a party pooper? We were just talking.”

“spreading rumors,” a meeker voice, but steady appears behind them, and the two girls flinch away from Anne, who had finally spoken up, “is pretty low, though.”

She presses between them, striding towards the lab, quickening her pace steadily to get as far away from the girls as possible, her face burning from her own remark.

She doesn’t speak up.

She is seen, not heard.

But sometimes, not even that.

But…maybe she should… _could_ be heard.

Xx

Seeing Felix sitting in her living room will never not be weird, she figures.

Probably even more so after the recent incident with Chaira and Sara.

“You know that Sara and Chiara talk about you,” Felix hums, as Anne enters the room with a tray of cookies and two drinks, “don’t you?”

He looks up from his book, quirking a brow with a look that has her stuttering inexplicably.

“I—yes? I do,” she manages to say with a lot more confidence than she feels, “why?”

He hums, flipping the page as his eyes return to the book, “why don’t you prove them wrong? We both know you’re smarter than they say you are.”

“I was going to jump in when they insulted Iven,” she huffs, placing the plate on the table, “but you seemed to have things covered.”

His eyes meet hers, “so you did hear us.”

She nods, “I did.” She sighs, “you weren’t far away, and I was heading to chemistry too.”

“Then why didn’t you stop them?”

His voice is a low rumble, and when Anne meets his gaze, his jaw is clenched, eyes regarding her with cool green fire that makes her pause.

“…they were just talking.”

“Badly,” he adds, “about you.” He scowls, “they were talking as if you were air, Anne. They think so little of you—”

“Does that bother you?” Anne asks, head tilted to the side as his gaze whips up, eyes wide and cheeks darkening.

“I—well, I suppose—” he stops, then points to her, “doesn’t it bother you?”

Now it is her turn to flush, and stutter, “Well. I mean,” she chuckles, nervous as she brushes hair from her face, “I mean…I’m used to it.”

_She does this a lot,_ he thinks, _sidestepping the question, not quite lying, but not 100% honest. Always reassuring others._

_Does she even stop to consider her own feelings?_ He wonders.

“It’s fine,” she sighs, pulling him from his thoughts, “don’t worry about it.”

She smiles, all teeth and sunshine, and he frowns, unable to help himself from worrying over this girl he barely knows, a girl who he is tutoring, nothing more.

And _yet_.

X

Anne was…slow.

Her memory was absolute shit, Felix learned this when she’d forgotten most of what they’d reviewed of the prior week.

At least she had the grace to feel sorry.

“I’m sorry,” she repeats for the third time, “I really, really tried but it just. Didn’t stick,” she sighs, “Sorry.”

“Stop apologizing,” he sighs, “if it was easy for you to remember things, I wouldn’t be tutoring you, would I?” he huffs, “I knew what to expect.”

She purses her lips, and murmurs, not intending for him to hear, “…did you?”

He pauses, eyes flying to her, “What?”

She laughs, blush decorating her cheeks as she waves, “Nothing! Nothing.”

He hums, focusing on getting out his notes, and without looking at her, speaks:

“I did.”

Her breath catches as she pauses in getting out her pens, before smiling, suppressing the heat that threatens to rise to her cheeks.

Anne was slow, but he’d learned from studying for the history test, that she wasn’t incapable. He was willing to keep trying, for as long as she was.

X

As the two pack up from reviewing what they went over in class, the door to the apartment opens, as a pair of light feet enter.

“Ands! I’m home!”

Anne winces, “Shit,” pulling her hair into one hand as she stands, “Hales, you’re home early!” she calls back, then, mouthing to Felix: ‘My sister Hailey.’ He nods, mute, following Anne in standing as she ties her hair together, stepping into the hall.

“Yeah,” Hailey hums, “club was cancelled, and Leo headed home already.”

“I see,” Anne hums as Felix steps into the foyer, “Do you have homework?”

Hailey nods, stepping out of the wardrobe, then stopping dead in her tracks when she spots him.

“Ah,” Felix says, “hello.”

Anne cringes, “Felix, this is my sister, Hailey. Hales, this is my tutor, Felix.”

_My Tutor._

_Nothing more, and nothing less._

“Er,” Hailey stutters, “Hi.”

“Hi,” Felix hums, “I. I should be on my way.”

“Yeah,” Anne nods, leading him to the door, “Right. sorry for keeping you.”

He huffs, awkward atmosphere forgotten for a second, “stop apologizing. Next time I won’t accept it.”

Anne flinches, “Ah. O-Okay. S—” she snaps her lips shut, tongue darting out to wet them before she bites down on the soft skin. “Right.”

Felix nods, letting Anne open the door for him, then slipping into the hall, “bye,” he waves, and Anne nods curtly, door closing behind him.

For a second, Hailey and Anne just stare at one another.

“What the fuck,” Hailey deadpans, finally, “Fucking….Felix _Escell_ is your tutor!? Actually, scratch that—you have a tutor?! Who hasn’t given up on you!?”

Anne glares, “Oi. I’m not that much of a lost cause.”

“Actually?” Hailey shrugs, “you kind of are.”

“Thank you. I can feel the love.”

Anne passes Hailey, stomping into the living room to gather her things. As she’s packing up to retreat to her room, her eyes land on a notebook that isn’t hers. She hums as she picks it up, and begins to flip through it to find out whose it is.

_It’s Felix’s._

It’s not his linguistics, either—it’s physics. A Subject she assumed he could do in his sleep. Flipping through the pages, she finds meticulous notes, questioning the teacher’s methods, and personal shortcuts to help remember things, color coding and highlighting important parts.

Her lips part, realization dawning on her as she recognizing how hard of a worker he is. How he gives his all, working just as hard as her to stay on top.

“Fuck,” she hisses, dropping onto the couch, running a hair through her hair, “I was wrong.”


	4. Catching Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne and Felix interact some more at school, and become somewhat closer.

Anne has a new pin.

It’s pinned to her pencil case, the one with stars printed onto blue cloth, and it goes well with her cardigan. It’s a light purple Last Legacy badge. When Felix sees it (entirely by chance, and not cause he heard her geek out about it to her friend, Bee) his entire posture lights up, and he has trouble focusing on the _regaling_ sex-tale Sage is telling.

The teacher walks in, and Felix can’t focus, because he’s too busy thinking of how to approach Anne once the lesson’s over. The lesson, however, seems to stretch on forever.

x

When the lesson inevitably, finally ends, Anne is packing up, getting ready to bolt to the music room, when a shadow is cast over her desk, causing her to look up, brows quirked.

There, blocking the light on her books, is Felix, looking a little awkward, and lost.

“Felix?” she mutters, then clears her throat, eyes averting, “Can…I help you? Did you need something?”

“Actually,” he murmurs, hand running through his hair, “I saw…you have a Last Legacy pin.”

Anne blinks, “I…uh. Yes. I do. It’s…ah. My favorite franchise.”

Felix smiles, eyes seeming to light up, much to her surprise, and he speaks brightly, “It’s a great series. Did you read the latest chapter?”

“You mean Saturday’s?” she asks, continuing to pile things into her bag as he nods, and she sighs, “No, I haven’t been able to find a good scan of the pages, and I can’t really afford the books.”

Felix nods, “Well. If you like Fellin…you should prepare some tissues.”

“What!” Anne gasps, standing, pulling her bag over her shoulder, “What about Enna? Is she okay?”

He hums, smirking as he heads towards the door, a finger on his lip, “moderately,” he shrugs, “depends on your definition of ‘okay’, really.”

Anne lets out a groan, following him out of the classroom, “come ooon! You gotta tell me more than that!”

He purses his lips, stifling a laugh, “I don’t ‘gotta’ do anything, dearest Anne.”

She glares at him, pouting, and he can’t really take her seriously as she turns on her heel and stomps off, “You play dirty, Felix Escellun!”

He smirks, barely suppressing a laugh as he strides after her, leaving the other students wondering when _those two_ became friends.

“Come oooon~” she drawls, “She’s gotta be okay, I mean, she’s a main character!”

“Well, she’s alive,” Felix nods, “though, her mental health may be severely jeopardized.”

“No!” Anne gasps, “Not my girl!!”

Felix chuckles, “Well, you’ll just have to wait and see, my dear Anne.”

Anne stops, then huffs with a pout, “That’s no fair! You have a physical copy, don’t you?”

He pauses, quirking a brow at her, “What makes you say that?”

She blinks, shrugs, “you’re rich?”

He stares at her, much how an unimpressed CEO would a bad suggestion, “that’s what you think?”

She snorts, cheeks flushing, “What? No, it was a joke, Escellun.” She scoffs, “Course it was a joke. What else?” she laughs, for good measure, “…We’ll be late.”

As her walking speed increases, Felix frowns, watching her back as she strides towards the band room.

“I do have the books,” he announces, quickly catching up with a huff, “though they are in Arabic, so I don’t know how well you will understand what is said.”

“You could read them to me,” she murmurs, but quickly, in a louder tone adds, “I guess I’ll just have to wait, then!” and with a flick of her hair over her shoulder, she’s moved on, “did you practice your piece for today?”

He hums, puffing out his chest, “Naturally. Who do you think I am?”

She laughs, but the uncertainty of it doesn’t slip past him.

X

Anne learns that Felix likes Last Legacy just as much as she does.

She doesn’t say it, but it’s honestly a relief that she can just mention the game to start a conversation with him. It’s far less awkward than her randomly asking him about their next tutoring session.

Though what surprises her most, probably, is how he disregards everything others say about her. He hangs out with her often now, as they’ve discovered their multiple shared interests, and whenever Chiara or Sara drop a rude comment, he’s there to brace her fall, and defend her.

She finds this odd.

About a month into their “arrangement”, both her siblings fall ill, forcing her to either expose Felix, or study in his dorm. When she approaches him about it in school, he scoffs.

“You think I’m that susceptible to falling ill?” he huffs, “I didn’t know you think so low of me, Anne.”

“I don’t!” she hastily says, cheeks burning, “I just…wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry? I don’t think you’d fancy missing class…”

“You think I’m that obsessed with my grades?”

She pauses. “I…uh…”

It occurs to them both, that though they have nice conversations and shared interests, they are still on a barely-acquainted basis.

Anne yearns to change that.

But she can’t.

“Nevermind,” Felix hums, “we can study in my room. If you think you can deal with Sage also being present?”

“Lesath?” Anne tilts her head, “he’s in two of my clubs. We get along fine.”

Felix nods, “Very well. then this Saturday?”

“Yes!” Anne beams, “Sounds perfect!”

He smiles, already looking forward to seeing her in casual attire again. “I look forward to it,” he says, shoving his books into his bag.

Anne freezes.

“You do?”

He stops packing to look up at her. her blank expression is baffling to him. Quizzically, he responds, “of course? I enjoy the time we spend together, even if we’re simply studying.”

“Oh,” Anne says, voice dry, “I see. Well. I. Er. That’s.”

“Nice?” he offers.

“Strange,” she corrects, scratching the back of her neck, “but…I. I look forward to it too.”

Felix quirks a lopsided smile, “fancy that.”

Anne forces a nervous laugh, cheeks now a dark shade of pink, “What a coincidence,” she chuckles, “um…I need to uh, get going,” she grabs her bag as she backs away from him, “S-See you!”

And with that, she rushes out of the classroom.


	5. The First Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix accidentally makes the patient Anne angry.

Felix doesn’t often yell at Sage for his disgusting habits, after 7 years he’s learned to just accept the fact that Sage will never change—at least not to appease him. However, today Anne is scheduled to visit for their tutoring session, and Felix wants to impress.

As he hastily shoves Sage’s rashions into a drawer, with Sage resting his feet on the bedframe and his head on his arms, he asks: “Why do you want to impress her so bad anyway?”

“I have no idea what you mean,” Felix huffs, putting his Last Legacy books on display, “is it not natural for me to want to create a pleasant atmosphere for studying?”

Sage smirks, “I don’t know, to me it seems like you like her.”

Felix scoffs, glaring at Sage, “I barely know her.”

“And yet,” Sage clicks his tongue, “here you are tidying up and putting your shared interest on display, moments before she gets here. AND! You’re wearing actual clothes, as opposed to an open shirt and joggers.”

Felix flushes darkly, growling, “Like you’re one to talk, Mr. Sage Ladies Man Lesath!”

Before Sage can retort, there’s a sharp knock at the door, and Felix’s breath catches before he inhales deeply, straightening his clothes. Then he walks across the room and opens the door.

When Felix sees Anne in the hallway, he can tell she feels incredibly awkward. Her hands are buried in her skirt, and through the cat stockings and her pink off the shoulder shirt are both adorable, she looks as uncomfortable as he does before a party at his family’s estate.

“Anne,” he smiles, “Good afternoon. Find your way here safely?” he asks, attempting to lighten her mood.

She huffs, a slight smile on her lips, “It wasn’t too hard,” she quips, knowing herself it was maybe a 3 or 4 minute walk at most.

Felix steps aside, allowing her to enter. Carefully removing her shoes at the door, she slowly ventures into the room. Nearly immediately, she catches sight of Sage in the corner.

“My roommate, Sage,” Felix curtly explains.

Anne nods, but Sage gives her a decidedly wolfish grin, “Hey, cat gorgeous.”

Felix pouts, “Just ignore him,” he tells Anne, who, on the other hand, is staring blankly at Sage.

“Anne?” Felix inquires.

“What is it, cutie?” Sage winks, “Cat got your tongue?”

“I…” Anne falters, a very strong blush decorating her cheeks, “Was that supposed to be flirting?”

“Yes,” Sage chuckles, “issat so surprising?”

Anne shrugs, “yes, actually.”

Felix, growing increasingly annoyed by their exchange, huffs, “If I remember correctly,” he says sharply, “we had some Chemistry to study.”

Sage growls, “you and me have Chemistry, Anne.”

Anne snorts, “we do both have Chemistry class,” she tugs on a stray curl, “however unlike you I actually have to study for it!”

Felix and Sage both blink blankly, but as Anne takes a seat on Felix’s bed, next to him, and begins to take out her materials, Felix throws Sage a wicked smirk. Sage pouts, resuming to scroll through his phone as Felix addresses Anne and begins working with her.

Xxx

“Something I noticed during our last session,” Felix says the following week, where they are once again at his dorm, though this time Sage is absent, “that you’re actually quite Witty.”

Anne smirks, “just noticing this now?”

He rolls his eyes, “you have a tendency to bite your tongue,” he tilts his head sideways, “why is that?”

Anne hums noncommittally, “Habit.”

“I bet if you were more honest with your thoughts, you’d attract many more people.”

Anne pauses her flipping through the pages of a manga he’d lent her, to look at him. Her brows are furrowed, pursed up, and she gives him a look that could say ‘you’re such an idiot’.

“I’m just saying,” he reasons, “if you spoke up a little, people may not talk about you as much.”

“People talk about me,” she bites, teeth gritted, “because I spoke up.”

“Well,” he huffs, crossing his arms, “you could try to get them to like you in other ways. It’s almost like you like being the outcast!”

Anne’s patience snaps, and she whips her head around, brows furrowed and eyes nearly burning when they meet Felix’s—

“You think I like being the butt of the joke!? You think I want to be so scared of people hating me, I quit doing the thing I loved!?”

Felix’s eyes widen, and he breathes a barely audible ‘what?’ as she hastily packs her bag and stands up.

“I need to get going,” she hisses, then sighs, “mom’s making pizza. I’ll see you later.”

“Yes,” Felix hums, barely paying attention, still mulling over what she’d said, “later.”

“Bye,” she says, slipping out as the door opens, and Sage and Anisa enter.

“Going already?” Sage jests, but only receives a curt ‘yup’ in response. He looks at Felix as she leaves, finding him staring at where Anne had been sitting.

“What did you do?” he asks his roommate.

Felix scoffs, offended with red cheeks as his face whips to the door, “I’ve done nothing I’ll have you know!”

“Well you clearly upset her somehow,” Sage argues.

“How in the hells should I know why she’s upset!” Felix exclaims, frustrated, “it’s not like I can read minds, especially hers. I’m not a mage you know!”

Sage rolls his eyes, “you just lack the emotional range, Rank 10.”

Felix grumbles, slightly embarrassed by his reference to his rank amongst the top 10 students.

“Oh, like you have the range?” Anisa deadpans. “Honestly, you could just ask her.”

Felix waves Anisa off, “it’s probably fine. You’ll see, Anne doesn’t stay mad at people for long.”

Xxx

Three days later, Anne is still thinking about how he brushed her off. How he thought people would like her if she spoke out more—that’s stupid.

Anne knows people at the school don’t like her—many reasons, one being her tendency to talk too much once prompted, the other that she doesn’t really care about trends and celebrities. That doesn’t really sit well with all the snobby rich kids at the Academy. What had her so upset, though, was Felix believing she hadn’t tried to get them to like her. That she liked being alone.

Who would like that? 

That afternoon, during tutoring, Anne keeps sneaking glances to him, hoping for an apology, or an attempt to understand.

But he never speaks up.

…until the end of their session, he grows impatient with the awkward air between them.

“Why are you still mad at me?”

He blurts it out unceremoniously while she is in the process of standing up, causing her to freeze in her tracks.

“I haven’t done anything,” he pouts, “why aren’t you talking to me!?”

Anne blinks, then huffs, quirking a brow, “What, you miss me?”

“Yes,” Felix nods, “as a matter of fact, I do.”

Anne flushes. She bites her lip, glancing away. Finally, her shoulders drop with a sigh.

“You think I didn’t try to fit in?” she says, turning to face him, “you think…I like being alone? Completely alone?”

Felix’s cheeks warm, he glances to the side, “Sage does.”

“Sage still has friends!”

“…I do?”

She scoffs, “Felix, you still have Anisa and Sage.”

He furrows his brows, “and you Bee and Iven.”

“Only since last year,” Anne corrects, “and…if they hadn’t shown up…I might not be here right now.”

His eyes widen, face paling.

“Oh.”

She sighs, “I have a mental disability. It’s called ADHD. It keeps me from controlling where I direct my concentration, and in what measure. So when I have to focus on, say, math, my brain can’t do that, and instead all my focus goes to…say, Last Legacy.” Anne shakes her head. “I take the medication to help, but only for the last few years. Before that, I took fan things to school, and that’s…”

“Nerdy,” he concludes, and when their eyes meet, she nods. “And the folks here,” Felix muses, “don’t like nerds.”

Anne nods, “I spoke too much. I was too loud. I couldn’t focus. I’d spend breaks singing in the forest behind the freshmen classrooms. I had no filter.”

Felix nods.

“I _tried_ to fit in,” Anne says, voice urgent, “really, I tried. But…they all already knew I was…embarrassing.”

Felix huffs. “I think it’s admirable that you had the chance to explore your hobbies and interests so openly,” he takes her hand, “I’d…I’d love to have had that.”

She snorts, sitting down again, “don’t lie. It wasn’t all good.”

“It wasn’t only bad, either.”

Anne shrugs, rolling her eyes, “Perhaps.”

Felix smiles, and it’s so sincere, so relieved, that her heart stutters in her chest.

“I apologize for my words,” he says, bowing his head, “do you forgive me?”

‘I think I did even before you asked,’ she thinks, but says instead:

“Yeah,” she nods, “I forgive you.”

His smile widens, for the first time it’s with his teeth exposed, and her heart stops again at how beautiful he looks.

“You are the kindest of souls, dear Anne.”

She snorts, “ok, Prince Charming,” she rolls her eyes, playing off the heat in her cheeks as she rubs one and picks up her bag, “I gotta go. See you later.”

Felix nods, “Goodbye, Anne.”

She mumbles into her hair as she opens the door, “Yeah, bye.”


End file.
